meditate with music

[meditime]

hi .. since there is so much noise all the time . i always put a relaxation music on my ipod and meditate with my headphone in my ears. is that something that is ok or is it better to not use any music at all .

ive been doing it for a while now, so i just wanna make sure im not wasting my time . i meditate twice a day, in the morning and before i go to bed .( 30 min each time )

[Matthew]

Hi meditime,

Generally I would advise against as it will interfere with the practice a lot. Just searching the forums for "music" I quickly found these threads where it has been discussed before:

http://www.vipassanaforum.net/forum/index.php/topic,605.0.html

http://www.vipassanaforum.net/forum/index.php/topic,432.0.html

Hope you can make the transition to meditation without music and actually "face the music" of your bodymind!

Warmly,

Matthew

[Stefan]

hei meditime,

I'd also advise against it ... there are  a lot of different meditation styles ... mantra meditations, guided meditations, music meditations, vipassana meditations ...

if you are into any form of the vipassana stuff, you should work without any external help. external help will help, of course, but it is a crutch ... you don't want a crutch when you try to stand on your own two feet without help

Metta, Stefan

[Masauwu]

You can try earplugs instead of music, but only when the noise would be overwhelming to the point of making you stop the meditation. Gradually noises can be tolerated, once you begin to notice clearly the reactions to them in your mind, they will begin to lose their "power".

[Stefan]

some threads about earplugs:

http://www.vipassanaforum.net/forum/index.php/topic,114.msg3029.html#msg3029
http://www.vipassanaforum.net/forum/index.php/topic,558.msg4516.html#msg4516
http://www.vipassanaforum.net/forum/index.php/topic,1493.msg13229.html#msg13229

[Andrew]

ive been doing it for a while now, so i just wanna make sure im not wasting my time . i meditate twice a day, in the morning and before i go to bed .( 30 min each time )

You are only wasting your time if it is not getting you anywhere you want to go. Where is it that you want to go with your meditation?

[Stefan]

You are only wasting your time if it is not getting you anywhere you want to go. Where is it that you want to go with your meditation?

oh, that's difficult ... we all do not know where this path leads, and "where we want to go" is usually illusive.

so, Meditime, if you are investigating truth your time is never wasted (imo). Even the errors that are made help to learn. There is no good or bad meditation actually, because both is the investigation of what is there. A "bad" meditation is a lesson as well.

but this goes off topic ... you where asking about music. 

[Geovicsha]

I personally compromise when it comes to music: start off my meditation with one song, then followed by just silence and the sounds of the inner and outer world.

I usually use an Eastern influenced Beatles song to get in the groove: Tomorrow Never Knows, The Inner Light, Within You Without You, Love You To et al.

[Stefan]

Within You Without You

I love this one!

 

[Andrew]

That sounds like a good method; get calm and happy with a song or 2, then go to the silence. the only thing I could see going wrong is if the song stirred up strong emotions which then became the focus of the session. Or you couldn't get the song out of your head for the next 20 mins...

Lately I've made myself some recordings of myself speaking about a few of the things I've learnt or otherwise want to remember. then I used garageband to put some rain fall sounds and gongs behind it. I'll listen to that, laugh at how silly I sound recorded, and go from there.

I defiantly finding going into a session feeling happy(ish) take the pressure of the session. Like Dusko said on another thread, calm is very important.

[Jeeprs]

I usually use an Eastern influenced Beatles song to get in the groove: Tomorrow Never Knows, The Inner Light, Within You Without You, Love You To et al.

you are definitely a sixties person.